1. Just be yourself. Don't schmooze, don't obssess, don't get weird, don't get all theater. It's served you well, being yourself all this time. Stick with it.

2. Just write. Keep at it steadily, keep at it carefully. Do it conscientiously, do it to the best of your ability.

3. See number one again, especially when you feel insecure about number 2.

4. Believe you have a story to tell. Then don't put it off. Tell it.

5. Accept that some people will like your work, some people will not like your work, and that's okay. You write because you have a story to tell. It's nice if someone will read your story, but if they don't, well, not everyone in the world or even the Western hemisphere is going to read your story. And that is okay.

6. Writing can change the world, but is not the most important job anyone will ever have on the planet. You are not telling deep truths about the universe. You are telling a story. Get over yourself.

7. See number one and number three again, just in case you need a reality check. Never believe your own press.

8. Keep doing something you enjoy that keeps you in touch with people and makes you feel that you are making a contribution to the world, because you can turn into a mushroom if you're writing only. A strange, weird, psychologically fungal mushroom, I might add. And then you might drink.

9. Do not pass judgment on the writing of others. Do not compare your writing to the writing of others. You can have opinions about things you read, but unless you are asked, you might want to keep them to yourself, especially where other writers are concerned. Play nice.

10. Expect others to play nice with you. Avoid pseudo intellectuals and non constructive critics. Hell, you don't need them. You have your worst critic, yourself, to contend with already.

11. The industry is not the measure of your success. Attention is not the measure of your success. Of course you want to send your work out, make smart marketing decisions, and try to share. The measure of your success is stories written and sent. You can't convince the world it wants your work, but you certainly can't do anything at all unless you're telling stories.

12. Realize that success in writing, like success in anything, is really more about persistance than anything else. Write, learn to market selectively and well, and then market selectively and well. There will be a learning curve. You will battle obscurity. You will make mistakes and get rejections. BUT eventually you'll have enough circulating and people will know who you are, and you'll learn the tricks, and your writing will line up with someone's taste, and more and more things will be accepted.

13. See 1, 3, and 7 again, especially in moments of personal angst.

14. See 2 and 4 again, especially in moments of procrastination.

15. See 4, 5, 9, and 11 again, especially in moments where you lack faith.

16. See 5, 9, and 10 to remind yourself of grace.

17. See 6, 7 and 10 to remind yourself that you're not curing cancer.

18. See 8 to maintain your balance.

19. See 12 when you feel like giving it up.

20. If you're not satisified anymore, if it's causing you consternation, cease. Walk away. Writing is important. A happy life is much more important than that. Anything must give you joy for you to continue it. Don't settle.

I am, alas, going to sound a bit pedantic here. Forgive me. I think that the farther up the ladder you are, I'm also going to sound kind of amateurish. So, please forgive that.

Are you ready then? Here we go.

***

Let's go back to your childhood. Do you remember when you started taking lessons in _____? Because you thought it'd be cool to _____? Do you remember how awful you were at first? I come from a musically inclined family. I played the baritone. I started in sixth grade. There were a lot of squeaks and blats, and lots of tone deaf renditions of Mary's Little Lamb. I did get better.

Let's go back to a class that really challenged you in high school or college. My first philosophy test was a C. It was a boring recap of the contents of the articles I read, and my first experience that college teachers want your own thoughts and extrapolations in philosophy. I finished with an A-. I got better.

How's about that first day on the job? Let's...not talk about my first year of high school teaching. It took that long to get hazed by the kids, to learn about the patriarchal environment of a small town school, and how to work within that system. The second year was better, and although I chose not to stay in high school education, I got better at the job.

***

Writing then. Remember your first story? Your first book? Your first "good" rejection? Your first request for a partial manuscript? A full? Several fulls? An almost offer of representation? It's great if we get farther and farther along the trail. How frustrating to not get there.

Two things:

1. It takes a while to learn to do anything well. To master a craft. It takes a while to write something that is good enough. Gotta live with that. Got no choice there.

2. It only takes one yes. One message in a bottle. One short straw. One number picked between one and ten.

The first point is a question of skill. Work and wait. Try not to be demoralized while you work and wait. You will be, of course. Even when you've published books, you'll probably still play these I'm not good enough games. And you aren't. But you should keep writing anyway.

The second point is the role of luck or subjective preference. And you can't do anything about whether someone is going to pluck you out from all the other straws, from all the other numbers. Stop worrying about that, because you can't do nothing about that.

In closing, go out and buy a teddy bear so you can have free hugs when you're feeling down. I got nothin' else. Get to work.

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.

My computer comes home tonight. The good news: new hard drive, systems operation is updated. The bad news: No data retrieved from old hard drive, all programs will have to be reloaded, all the novels in process will need to be imported again to Scrivener. Well, better to have the computer back. That saves money. The rest will just take time.

***

Off to...Wiscon! So, you will be getting the barrage of Wiscon reports as usual. I have not forgotten about the Black Widow, and have been thinking about my feminism in The Avengers write up, so that's still coming.

***

Yesterday on my daycation I didn't do much of anything. I had an awesome spa treatment, got my hair done and styled and read. I finished Renegade Magic by Stephanie Burgis (as expected, good!) and 3 volumes of Love and Rockets.

The evening before I finished Ellen Klages' The Green Glass Sea.

All right. So it's not a fantasy. It's a book about the Los Alamos development site for the nuclear bomb, and the experiences of two young girls who live at the project with their parents. There's a lot of the 1940s in it. The girls are very interesting characters, and their interactions are natural and evolving. Coloring everything in the background is what you know, and what the scientists don't, about our nuclear future. It's a stunner. It's the first book where I've cried reading a character scene in quite a while. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, especially if you like reading, or you're working on, character development and relationships.

One more post today, and then I've got to get down to some hard core computer program chasing.

Cath

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.

One of the things that I do here in Iowa is I help out with an organization called Mindbridge, which runs three conventions in Eastern Iowa : Gamicon, AnimeIowa, and Icon.

Icon is our local literary convention. It's going into its 37th year, and it's undergoing a bit of revitalization. We've decided to try to add another interesting piece to Icon--a journeyman's writer workshop.

Icon has a great tradition of attending authors and a strong beginning writer's workshop hosted by Mickey Zucker Reichart. We'd like to continue that tradition by adding a second tier.

One of the requirements of applying to the workshop is journeyman status. The cost of $100 includes admission to the convention and the workshop, as well as a reception Saturday evening. Friday will be a day of critiquing and workshopping. Saturday will be a day of seminars, readings, and participation in panels. Membership will be capped at 18 writers.

Our information will evolve, but you can read the basics here. Click the Projects Menu, and then highlight Paradise Icon. A side menu will show up with a variety of details.

Hope to see some of you there!

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.

Hey, I remembered that other thing!

Viable Paradise applications close June 15th. That's close, peoples.

And you know how I feel about Viable Paradise? You don't? Click here, and find out. You can also see what some other wonderful people thought as well.

If you want to take your writing up to another level, meet some awe-inspiring fellow writers, get treated LIKE A WRITER FOR REELZ, and receive some good instruction, this is for you.

Or you could just stay home and miss the day glo jelly fish, Mac's excellent cooking, and Beer with Billy. It's your call.

I will happily answer any questions I can. But if you have been considering a writing workshop, and you're like me, writer with a serious day job, this is a great way to go.

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.

It's been a while since I've added new links to the vintage page, so here are a couple for you.

I've been meaning to add Stop Staring! for a while. Stop Staring! has one of the best selections of vintage styles on the web. You'll find their dresses available at other sites, but this is the place to find them all. The sizes are right too--I can get clothes that fit and flatter at Stop Staring, all the way up to 3X. Skip through their collection of little black dresses. Come on, you know you want to. I should really get around to buying this beauty.

Mode Merr: Mode Merr has some wonderful outfits, but what really captured my interest were their very attractive office ready skirts and shirts.

Check these sites out and enjoy the gorgeous retro-reproductions!

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.

It's time for modular post day, also known as a post for everyone day! I got yer Wiscon schedule, some updates to the vintage clothing links, and some updatery goodness. I think I'm forgetting something else, so if that springs to mind you'll get that too.

***

Tomorrow I'll be off work. I am taking a SPA DAY. (Dr. Catherine needs her a spa day.) So, you won't see me about until later in the day when I settle in for some more writing.

BTW, I am done with chapter six. Can I manage to catch up and get back on schedule? It's a fantasy..

Speaking of spas, did the whole Disney reservation thing for the cruise today. Still gotta have words with the husband about the Nassau part. We'll probably do that tonight.

***

So, Wiscon. As is traditional, my friends Dan and Lisa are kindly driving me to Wisconsin on Friday, where we will rendez-vous with our friend Yolanda. I'm planning on seeing some friends and doing some socializing and getting some books signed. I'll also be available to sign if you just happen to have a copy of Hulk Hercules lying around!

I am not reading this year. Really don't have anything coming out soon. I'll be hopefully reading at Convergence with my fellow Broads from Broad Universe. I expect it'll be something from Abigail Rath. A shocker! But I do have a couple of panels to tell you about, one on Sunday and one on Monday, in case you'd rather see me behind a table rather than over a drink.

Sunday, 2:30 pm -3:45 pm: Baba Yaga and Other Retired/Secret Goddesses. Putting my Fulbright GPA to good use, I'm going to be on a Baba Yaga panel.

Monday, 10:00 am -11:15: Newly Professional Older Writers: What Helps What Hinders. A discussion about trying to break in at a later age.

I'll also be at the sign out, I expect mostly getting books signed.

Will I see you there?

Catherine

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.

Tiffany Trent, author of the Hallowmere series, has a new book coming out, The Unnaturalists, an interesting and fantastic tour marrying Victorian science and the biology of faeries. Tamora Pierce has great things to say about the book, and I can speak to how much I enjoyed the Hallowmere series. I'm happy that Tiffany has taken some time out of her Wiscon prep to answer some questions about her writing process.

Tamago: Do you have a regular drafting process, or does your drafting process vary from book to book? (If it varies, please keep one project in mind as you answer these questions.)

Tiffany: It tends to vary from book to book. I’ve tried both chronological drafting and also what I’ll call “scene” drafting, in which I allow myself to write whatever scene I want as it comes to me, regardless of order. I did that with a book I started a couple years ago and it was fun, but it became a great challenge when I tried to figure out where the pieces went. I’m still figuring it out!

Tamago: In general, how many drafts does it take before you are satisfied with a novel?

Tiffany: I’m not sure I’m ever satisfied. The closest to satisfied I’ve been is THE UNNATURALISTS (coming in August) and that took more drafts than I care to count, including three to-the-bones rewrites.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.

This weekend, one of my former students, Katie Beckett, died at 34.

Why talk about this at all? Katie was certainly a gifted literature student, one of the best I had had. Her research papers went above and beyond, and her interpretations of texts were nuanced and complex. More importantly, as you read about Katie's life, you will see that she was an IMPORTANT PERSON (TM). There's a law named after her, and her life was in part that of a disability advocate.

I have talked about death here. I've always felt that my father did more harm than good in the world. And my father-in-law had the life he wanted, and left those he knew better than he found them. Katie was a normal person in extraordinary circumstances, and left a legacy to other hospitalized children around the country.

The last time I saw Katie, it was during a writing session I was having at Barnes and Noble during finals week. She robbed me of some of my writing time. I resented that a little. As good a student as Katie was, her new hope was to be a YA writer. She tried to get into a YA program twice, but she wasn't ready. I would go so far to say that Katie was a terrible writer of fiction. But there's a lesson in that too.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.

For the majority of this weekend, I'm going to cozy up to my work computer and move forward with Abigail Rath Versus Blood Sucking Fiends, which has not been receiving the attention it deserves for a variety of sad, sad reasons. However, I am ready to get back to it. I need to get back to it, especially to get it done just in time for the holidays. You know, when publishing shuts down.

***

It's been a while since you've had one of these, but here 'tis...all the writing projects that at least have a file, and where they are at.

But of course this is more for me than you. If you want to see something that's more for you than me, look at the two posts before this. Judging from the traffic they've been getting, you'll want to have a look-see.

Projects Underneath the Cut.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.